One of my patients, who is in her 70s, recently became lightheaded while on a walk—for no apparent reason and without warning. She didn’t remember passing out, but when she regained consciousness, she was lying on the ground. Fortunately, she was not hurt.
She had extensive testing—laboratory tests and cardiovascular tests—but they did not reveal any particular cause for her syncope. It was thought that she might have been somewhat dehydrated at that time and was to make sure she drank “plenty of water.”
In talking to the patient about this, I learned for the first time since I had started seeing this patient several years earlier that she particularly disliked drinking water. “I know, I know. I should be drinking more water,” she said, apparently, expecting that I was going to lecture her about that.
Instead, I gave her some simple but very effective tips on how to avoid dehydration, whether a person likes drinking water or not.